tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post4663334953045749645..comments2024-03-28T09:19:27.451+00:00Comments on RevK<sup>®</sup>'s ramblings: Stupidity tax?RevKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-85796274243522614132017-06-07T19:20:42.511+01:002017-06-07T19:20:42.511+01:00Based on JJ's comments why not simply dump all...Based on JJ's comments why not simply dump all those without the correct reference in to a holding account and no more? Your systems will then kick in for non-payment and they'll have to do all the work for you to prove when they paid.<br /><br />Charging people a small extra fee is not much of a deterrent. Causing someone at their end a lot of extra work is more likely to make them mend their ways.jelvhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06330649794336059930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-80133014149675996102017-05-30T07:29:40.964+01:002017-05-30T07:29:40.964+01:00As we don't see originator bank details, we ca...As we don't see originator bank details, we can't.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-1779830978361287612017-05-29T21:59:04.465+01:002017-05-29T21:59:04.465+01:00I would suggest simply sending it back with the re...I would suggest simply sending it back with the reference "WE DO NOT ACCEPT BACS TRANSFERS WITHOUT A REFERENCE YOUR BILL IS UNPAID", but that would probably be too long...Chad Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06466797076721870606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-12724017942280126152017-05-29T21:16:46.106+01:002017-05-29T21:16:46.106+01:00I remember the other end of this process causing g...I remember the other end of this process causing grief at work a few years ago: we had both line and broadband with BT, so received two bills each month. At least once, the MD paid the broadband bill, but with the landline account number as reference - so the following cycle, one bill was in credit, the other had a penalty for late payment, in addition to a non-DD surcharge (£9 per month as I recall, or maybe £9 per quarter?). Why a single piece of copper, for use by a single customer, ordered with a single phone call and delivered by a single engineer visit, required two different account numbers ...<br /><br />The MD wouldn't trust BT with DD access (perhaps understandable; the following year, they managed to cut the line off by mistake, taking weeks to restore service!) - though the line and broadband are covered by a single annual DD payment (to IDnet) now, which works much more efficiently.jas88https://www.blogger.com/profile/05563592458314214904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-6974953015473762432017-05-28T16:17:04.444+01:002017-05-28T16:17:04.444+01:00I operate the IT side of a music school that my si...I operate the IT side of a music school that my sister runs. The majority of payments are made by BACS and we ask for their family reference number followed by surname and show exactly what they should use very clearly on every statement. Of around 150 families at least 20% make a relatively trivial error such as omitting the leading letter 'F' (to distinguish family ref from pupil ref) or the hyphen that separates number from check digits, or give a different surname (families are very complex nowadays). Those are matched automatically anyway subject to a quick visual check. Another 20% put the surname first or make up their own reference like child's forename or instrument but get the family number in somewhere so we're at least able to match it manually and it's unique so we can create a mapping rule for future payments. And then we come to the last 10% who put a reference for their own benefit such as 'MUSIC AUTUMN TERM" or "VIOLA LESSON".<br /><br />The unmatchable or hard-to-match ones we send chasing letters to and put the onus on them to prove that they paid in order to demonstrate to them the difficulty they cause by not following a simple instruction. Usually works ... eventually.<br /><br />I reckon that since most utilities are DD now people have forgotten how important it is to get the reference right.JJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15638774441452806449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-5227925955042961472017-05-28T11:53:34.986+01:002017-05-28T11:53:34.986+01:00We have that in our terms for things like DD colle...We have that in our terms for things like DD collected in error, but would consider it for other cases.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-27447836566878624162017-05-28T11:52:01.223+01:002017-05-28T11:52:01.223+01:00Would you consider offering a five pound credit wh...Would you consider offering a five pound credit where clerical errors at A&A cause customers to incur additional book-keeping costs?Will Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15515078919433985452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-69830066618204104652017-05-27T18:32:39.090+01:002017-05-27T18:32:39.090+01:00This is classic small->medium business growth p...This is classic small->medium business growth problems. <br /><br />You're not an accountant Adrian. The time you take to identify shit like this is best spent otherwise - unless of course you consider your accounts team as inadequate.<br /><br />Do what you're good at & let others do the job you pay them for. They are better at it than you because its their sole function in your company.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-14905554312695908392017-05-26T12:35:10.719+01:002017-05-26T12:35:10.719+01:00It is a combination of my checking it first and pa...It is a combination of my checking it first and passing most to accounts, yes. We used to be a tad more slick but Barclays on-line banking went a bit wonky.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-72104754716821003472017-05-26T12:23:05.787+01:002017-05-26T12:23:05.787+01:00If someone is happy (as they clearly are) to pay y...If someone is happy (as they clearly are) to pay you a £5 fine every time - even for 3p - then just take the money.<br /><br />Your issue is the time its taking YOU to deal with this & I suggest that's what you should address.<br /><br />If accounts don't have access to at least a daily bank statement (with references) then can I suggest you work out a method whereby this happens? <br /><br />You shouldn't be reconciling client/bank accounts if you have an accounts dept. By all means keep the bank login details to yourself but why have an accounts dept if you end up doing the donkeywork? Surely you give them updated bank statements & they sort out who the hell the people are? They can then give you a daily summary & you do anything required on the banking side, which is hopefully minimal.<br /><br />Its not a good (or valid) use of your time IMHO. Someone in accounts can do it faster than you & its what you pay them for anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-20339384383693078902017-05-26T11:40:57.175+01:002017-05-26T11:40:57.175+01:00We do that, we try and resolve the issue, honest.We do that, we try and resolve the issue, honest.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-30119261686903767472017-05-26T11:38:06.418+01:002017-05-26T11:38:06.418+01:00Have you asked the customer why they are unable to...Have you asked the customer why they are unable to complete the reference number correctly?Steve Hopkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01060389132752495657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-7040305828289674622017-05-26T11:13:43.452+01:002017-05-26T11:13:43.452+01:00Your account looks like it is with Barclays. Ask ...Your account looks like it is with Barclays. Ask them about DirectData+ as that does include the sending sortcode and account number; or at least it does in my feed. Matt Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02500604194317946890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-66510518505091787892017-05-26T01:16:47.099+01:002017-05-26T01:16:47.099+01:00We expect the account number as reference which is...We expect the account number as reference which is same for every payment on that account - which should help in such cases. The problem customers are generally the ones that have some BACS system, rather than those just using an on-line banking web interface.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-89619839363308473302017-05-26T01:13:56.598+01:002017-05-26T01:13:56.598+01:00We specify that it should be account number (A...A...We specify that it should be account number (A...A) but will accept an invoice number instead (I...A) and will ignore extra text so you can do account number and a space and some other text if you wish. We try not to be too strict. However, the "correct" information is just exactly the account number (A...A) as specified on the invoice and statement. If you have an example of a case where someone was charged when the account number was present I am happy to take a look and try and understand why.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-10349960098272115762017-05-25T22:49:16.280+01:002017-05-25T22:49:16.280+01:00I don't think any customer who's aware of ...I don't think any customer who's aware of the consequences of not filling in the reference correctly (the CEO of the company manually assigning their payment, while on holiday) could object to the fiver. It's priced so that most sane people would just pay it, learn the lesson and move on. If the charge was £100, it might be a different story.Gavin Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11021101258601939374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-71863217383622132842017-05-25T22:48:52.240+01:002017-05-25T22:48:52.240+01:00Agree the 5GBP charge is fair - we do something si...Agree the 5GBP charge is fair - we do something similar for people who (still) insist on paying by cheque or cash.<br /><br />On the subject of references, unfortunately many banks don't make it easy for the payer, especially if supplier has a uniqie reference number per invoice. HSBC online banking, as an example, creates a separate payee for every different reference you use, so the payee screen can very quickly become cluttered with duplicate payees with outdated references.<br /><br />Banks which allow a 'default' reference, but that can be changed on each payment made, would be much better.Chris @ Minotaurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05483863423399413251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-1950114223850180312017-05-25T22:13:24.857+01:002017-05-25T22:13:24.857+01:00I think your system currently looks for "acco...I think your system currently looks for "accountnum" or "invoicenum" whereas it would be better to look for "*accountnum* OR *invoicenum*". If one quotes the account number and the invoice number or adds anything else into the ref field then your system does not understand and applies the £5 charge even though all the correct information was present.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-23257291666061302492017-05-25T19:33:30.949+01:002017-05-25T19:33:30.949+01:00banking systems that do not quote sort code and ac...banking systems that do not quote sort code and account number are pretty annoying - it's like receiving an email without a reply address and it also means that if you need to do a refund you have to faff about phoning the bank Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com